test drive meme!

[sucrosity]

TEST DRIVE MEME

Scenarios:

> Hometown Hustle - Are you still recovering from Locke City's recent Alien Invasion? Are these murders in Vegas really getting you down? Or are you excited, for one reason or another?
> Help, help, I've been robbed! - your bag or wallet's just been snatched, or is in the process of being snatched. Catch the snatcher or rough them up - you may or may not be surprised, if you come to blows or a chase, to find on throwing a punch that they're much quicker and/or sturdier than you'd have expected. Maybe someone will dive in to back you up.
> Monster encounter! There's a Vermini infestation going around in Las Vegas that may present itself in either of two forms. One is swarms of little black... insects? Tiny little wingless people-shaped ugly fairy things? The second is animals with a nose for the Numbered and an aggressive streak with some distinct mutations - you might find a lizard with disturbingly human ears, a bird with teeth, etc.
> Transportation/travel. You're at an airport or train station, whether to escape or take a tour to a strange-events hotspot, or plain go on an innocent vacation. Mix up your bags or timetables, grab a pre-ride snack, chat up those with the same destination, get or give directions, find yourself receiving an ill-timed item Echo in front of security - whatever you can think up!
> Say - is that one of those superhumans you've spied on the street? Yes, I do believe it is - you've seen them on the news/read about them, that or their looks give them away! Go on and ask questions of them, be it for serious answers or an autograph, depending on who you are.
> ...And it looks like you're a superhuman yourself. Looks like that hollowed-out feeling you got was followed by a mutation, or some strange thing in your brain. How're you going to come to grips with it?
> Wildcard/Etc. Make up your own!

Prompts suggested by Alec and Zero.

Comments

Chrono Harlaown :: Kevin Steele | Lyrical Nanoha

[truthcharted]

[A | downtown Locke, action]
[He's not sure what he's looking for, but the best way to find information is to start from the bottom and work up. There had to still be dozens of "numbered" in this city, and even if he was supposedly one himself, he wasn't really a good data source. Not when he didn't have powers or memories like the others. And besides... there are a lot of crazy personalities that would be worth talking to, in a place like this. Someone has to know something. And even if his current mission is just to watch and gather information, it's something that needs to be approached with care. So he's roaming downtown, with a cup of dark, black coffee in hand. He's content to just observe for now, although he's not afraid to talk if confronted.]

[B | network]
I know you all don't like handlers much - I wouldn't either, if I'd been in your position - but you're going to have to live with us. Myself, and the others on this case... we're not here to get in the way, or to stop you from doing the things you want to do, or to arrest you for looking at us wrong. Speaking for myself, I would love nothing more than to join you on some adventure or another. But that's not the way the world works. It's not okay for people to just do something without regard for the rest of the city around them, let alone to create a disturbance. We want to help. But you need to work with us, or the gloves are going to come off, and I won't be able to make any promises. Understand that, because once it hits the fan, there are going to be some changes here.

Now that I've just blown all my goodwill at once, I've got this fancy-looking playing card that showed up on my desk yesterday. I'm pretty sure it was "mine". Any ideas? [He holds up a shiny metallic card, indeed about the size of a playing card, with a diamond inset.] I'd appreciate advice, although if you could hold the condemnation and the screaming, that'd be nice.

[C | vermini, action]
[The park sure is loud today, what's- ah. There are vermini floating around, apparently. And Kevin is glaring at the staff that he's apparently just pulsed back, moving it to his right hand and drawing is that a gun, where did that come from-

Yep, he's definitely got a large-caliber pistol, and he's opening fire on the bird that's swooping in for the kill. The first two shots miss, and he dives aside, recovering well but still holding the staff he doesn't know how to use.]

Damn thing, you showed up at the worst possible time! Where are your instructions...!?

[D | open]
[Or, y'know, whatever you want. Kevin's application is in his journal; he's an FBI agent and the reincarnation of a mage, in his late twenties.]

C

[seed_of_memory]

[a loud scream heralds the entrance of another player; a black-haired young woman carrying what appears to be a scythe. Except... the scythe's blade appears to be made of energy.

The target of her aggression? The same bird, which she manages to cleave in two with her weapon with the help of an upwards leap. Moments later, she lands in a crouch, glaring at Kevin]

What the hell are you doing?! Get the hell out of here!

[truthcharted]

Hey, don't make this my fault! I don't decide when something wants to kill me! [The staff comes around as the bird is split up the middle, and he lets out a deep sigh, clicking his pistol safe and holstering it before he looks back to his savior.]

Damn, I hate these things. Thank you, seriously. I'd have gotten it eventually, but I just... [He trails off, glancing at the staff again, then to the scythe.] That's quite a weapon.

[seed_of_memory]

[Fuyuka scoffed, before standing straight up and attacking another vermini with a quick slash]

There's nothing to get. You can't take on these things with a staff! Get the hell out of here!

[truthcharted]

I didn't even have the staff until- shit! [He whirls; he hadn't even realized there were more of these things, and his weapon comes back out from its holster, safety released before it's even all the way out, brought to bear on the creatures.]

The staff is one of those pulse things! I was hoping it'd knock something loose when it showed up, but nothing's come to me yet!

[seed_of_memory]

A pulse isn't worth risking your life! Besides, sometimes they can be-

[she stopped in mid-section, to cleave a vermini dog formed from a small dog in twain]

- they can be delayed...!

[truthcharted]

That would have been nice to know to start with! Dammit! [The report of the pistol echoes out again, as he blows a chunk out of a branch, missing another bird by inches.]

Some of us have ways to deal with things even without past-life bullshit, you know!

A

[my_style]

[it may not be amazing, but Kevin might catch a view of a teenaged girl and her German shepherd walking through the streets, lifting wallets from unsuspecting passerbys. Yes, this includes the dog, who manages to grab the wallets with a kind of unnatural slyness and intelligence]

((OOC - Intending Rika to be living in Vegas, but for the purposes of this test drive, she's gonna be in Locke))

[truthcharted]

[Huh. Well, that's different. And not quite in line with the things he normally watches for, but this is a little bit of a weird situation, and- wait, did the dog just swipe something? Okay, this bears investigation. He strides forward casually, hoping to catch up to the girl and her pet, not wanting to confront her just yet. Once he can get to her, he'll match pace for a second. Assuming she doesn't bolt, of course.]

[my_style]

[if you thought taking wallets was extraordinary for a dog, then you haven't seen anything yet, because she notices they're being followed before Rika. She bumps her head against her owner's leg, causing Ruki to look back, seeing Kevin more-or-less following them. She narrows her eyes, before speeding up... and then breaking into a run, with her companion quickly following in step behind her]

[truthcharted]

[That definitely gets his attention, and he picks up the pace, until both girl and pet take off, and he goes right into pursuit. Of course, longer legs mean he'll gain on them fairly quickly. Or at least, on Rika.]

If you stop now, we can do this the easy way!

[my_style]

Like hell we're going to do that!

[Rika starts running faster while the dog banks left... in order to nudge a mailbox of all things over in Kevin's path. Then, she bounds off after Rika, catching up with her as she hops over the hood of the car and into the street. What follows is the screech of tires belonging to cars that skid to a stop before they can hit her]

[truthcharted]

All right. You were warned.

[Kevin picks up the pace even further, now outright bounding for her, hands free to roll over the hoods of the cars working quite hard to not hit the fleeing girl. The mailbox is a surprise, but he's in work mode rather severely right now, and a quick sidestep puts him out of the way.]

You're going to have some explaining to do, miss!

B

[jasminebloominginshadow]

What gives you the right to say we're doing this without regard for anyone, huh? This place is our home. We're doing this because we're trying to help protect everyone here, you know!

[truthcharted]

Some of you are. I respect that, and to the people that can honestly say they're being careful about what they're doing, and that are trying to help, I would just ask that they keep doing what they're doing. The world needs more "heroes," in whatever form they take.

No, I'm looking at the people you probably think of whenever someone starts up with a speech like this. The kid that incited a riot in Vegas. The one that mind-controlled a politician on live television. Those are not things we can just allow to happen. These powers have too much potential to let run unchecked, but it would be counter to our purpose to just pick all of you up and make a gated community to lock everyone inside. But, if that's what it takes to keep the world safe from the numbered - if it's determined that we are more harm than good to this country, and this world - that's what's going to happen.

I don't think you'd take that lying down, miss. Am I right?

[jasminebloominginshadow]

Hey, the guy that did that was my friend! He's a victim, not a perpetrator...!

And woah woah woah! You can't just say something like that and act like no one's considering it! We saved everyone! I'm not letting them take us and throw us into some freak camp!

[truthcharted]

Victims don't get crowds together to murder someone that hasn't just tried to harm them. Whether he meant to do it or not, it's his fault, and justice needs to be served. Which makes him my problem. I don't like problems. They're time-consuming, and they involve a lot of paperwork. And they typically mean a life has to end, beyond the ones that have already been affected.

In the end, what are we? We're people that can't live in the present. The world has seen fit to bless us with these connections to other selves. Guess what? That makes us freaks. Every last one of us. You, me, your boyfriend, all of us. Freak camp is a mild word for what could happen to us.

I know all of your help was instrumental in protecting Locke City from that snake, a few months back. But the truth is, people are afraid. It's human nature to be scared of something you don't understand, and there's literally no way to make sense of us. We get powers and memories out of thin air. We're the average person's worst nightmare, and when stories of things like that hit the news, it doesn't get any better.

[jasminebloominginshadow]

I... I knew him! He wasn't like that! He was better than that! If whatever happened to him was anyone's fault, it was his previous self's...

...

I... I have to believe we're separate from them! Or else...

...

And he is not my boyfriend! Why do people keep saying that?! I don't even like guys!

[truthcharted]

[Ah, the crux of the matter. Kevin's tone softens somewhat.]

I understand that. I want to believe that, too. Arresting someone because some other person on a distant world was a murderer isn't really in my playbook. You were a person, before you got these numbers, this connection. I don't think that it's something that changes a person inherently. It has to be something you don't question, that you just accept. That's where the problem is.

But our world - my bosses included - don't necessarily think that way. If someone's dangerous, then even if they're not necessarily dangerous where I can see them, they're under surveillance pending being taken into custody. That, unfortunately, is in my playbook. And if all of this gets out of hand, we're going to have a lot of people to take in. I'm hoping that doesn't happen - especially considering it might get me taken in, too.

...Sorry about the boyfriend thing, by the way. It's kind of a default reaction to something like this. But boyfriend, girlfriend, best friend, sister, whatever... the point stands. All of us have to be aware of what we're doing, now. This is more than just you, or I.

A;

[alilyinthemoonslight]

[ In the process of observing people, you may find one or two you may end up noticing no matter who you may be - be it FBI, Numbered, or just someone who watched television during the spring. One such individual is Lily Tsukuyomi, quietly window browsing a clothing store along her way. Something she wouldn't have given two looks many months ago. Just standing there in a crowd, the tall, purple haired young woman... sticks out.

Not enough however for a mugger to suddenly go tearing off down that same sidewalk, purse in hand and his victim screaming after him. With not even a look in his direction, Lily's foot slides back and catches him in mid stride. While he smashes face first into the stone ground, the purse goes flying, and Lily now spins around to catch it out of the air.

Regardless of the good deed, her quiet shopping trip is now a bit of a commotion, and if she didn't stick out before, she does now.

Curious yet? ]

[truthcharted]

[Oh yeah, Kevin definitely saw her before. What was her name... some kind of flower. Daisy? Petunia? No... Lily? Yes, Lily, that was it. It's one thing to read about someone in your reports, or see them on television, but it's another entirely to see them in person.

And he's definitely impressed with her moves, and her immediate reaction. Worth stepping in here, at least. Kevin strides over with purpose.]

Good work, miss. You look like you get this often.

[A brief glance at the thug on the ground; if he tries to run, he'll have another thing coming, but for now, Kevin's content to let him sit there until someone get around to calling the police proper.]

[alilyinthemoonslight]

[ He's not the first person to say anything to her, but somehow he's the one to get her primary attention. She hands the purse back to the grateful victim, takes a step away, and brushes her hair back. A slight glance to the man, and she gives just the slightest of nods. ]

A... little bit, I guess. You can't be too careful these days, right?

[truthcharted]

No, you can't. There's always someone looking to cause a little bit of trouble, and- [He catches the poor sap indeed trying to get up, and he slides over, putting a knee on his back to keep him down, ignoring the growl of pain.] Miss Tsukuyomi, please summon the police for me? I have some scum to restrain.

[alilyinthemoonslight]

[ A hard blink. The man's swift action is surprising enough, but calling her by name... okay, sure. Her identity as Cure Moonlight wasn't very secret, her girlfriend had been outed on television, and there were journalists and tabloids trying to dig up information on them.

Still... something about how easily he addresses her throws her off, and it's a second before she mutely nods and complies. A phone call later, she drops her phone back into her purse, before her hand goes to her hip. ]

...so to whom do I owe the honor, sir?

[truthcharted]

You can call me Kevin. Kevin Steele. I... have something of a vested interest in the numbered. Not you specifically, of course, but your ice queen of a girlfriend - no offense, she seems like a nice person from what I got from Gerald, but it's what she does - is a very public person these days. It's not hard to work out the rest from there.

So Miss Adamas isn't really a mystery at this point, unless you're trying to match old-her to current-her, in which case the jury's out. See if you can find the originals of the student council tapes from December on the internet, by the way, they're absolutely heartbreaking. You, on the other hand, are still a little bit of a mystery, and I would be remiss not to at least try to make contact.